Get Back To Exercising and Your First Run
I’m getting ready for my first run and I’m looking to get back into shape by exercising more. At 56 years of age, you tend to take a better look at your general health and stop thinking that you are invulnerable. I have always stayed pretty much in good shape but after 12 years of military service I fell into a sedentary civilian lifestyle that included drudge work in an office and a two hour commute, both ways. This didn’t leave much time for leisure, much less exercise.
Add a combination of a reasonably healthy diet, junk food, and a few beers after work every day and it all adds up to about being at least 20 pounds overweight. So, with great determination I have decided to resume my exercise regimen and include some running within the schedule.
Let’s be clear. I was not completely sedentary. Up until about three years ago I did a daily regimen of calesthenics with 10 pound dumbells that lasted about one half hour per day and included a minimum of 25 to 50 reps of each different exercise. By the end of the half hour I was working up a good sweat. I don’t recommend this for everyone. I am not a professional and I don’t know much about exercise but it worked for me and I felt good after my workouts.
My first run after a long break
I guess that is the point of all this, to move your butt enough so you can feel the strain. If you want to maintain mobility you exercise as I did. If you want to look like Charles Atlas or Arnold Schwarzenager you really drive yourself and do much more. And sweat much more.
You should also know up front that it doesn’t take much to get me sweating. I have a bad case of emphysima and I had a thoracotomy of my right lung 12 years ago. Not only do I sweat, but I very quickly develop shortness of breath and my nose starts running whenever I move at anything above my normal pace.
But I try to be realistic about it. I stopped exercising because my wrists and elbow joints were starting to ache. I thought I would lay off for a while that turned into a very long hiatus of two years. I got lazy. However, being lazy did nothing for my waistline and I gained at least another inch when I should have been taking inches off.
So far, my running consists of long walks of up to one half hour checking out the neighborhood. Besides the exercise it has its own rewards. You get to see what changes are taking place and you get the opportunity to meet a lot of people you would not otherwise have visited.
A couple of weeks walking coupled with my exercise regimen should get me ready for a real first run. Maybe even, all the way around the block.
